One beautiful spring day as two caterpillars were munching on a tasty leaf together, they saw a butterfly fly right over them as it headed for a beautiful garden full of flowers. After a moment, the first caterpillar turned to his friend and said, “You’ll never get me up in one of those things!”
But the unavoidable truth is, for every caterpillar there comes a time when it will instinctively begin to form a cocoon around itself. The cocoon will then harden into a shell, and it would seem for all the world that the caterpillar is now dead.
But one spring morning something begins to stir inside. Then suddenly, the top breaks open, and a beautiful butterfly emerges. For hours it will stretch and dry its beautiful wings, moving them slowly up and down. And then, before you know it, the butterfly springs into the air and flies off to get its first taste of nectar.
Somehow, the miracle of the butterfly never loses its fascination for us. Maybe that’s because the lifecycle of the butterfly is a living example of the promise of resurrection.
On that first Easter morning, the disciples went into the Lord’s tomb, but found it empty—in much the same way as when we find an empty cocoon, now deserted by a beautiful butterfly who has left it forever. Suddenly, an angel appears and proclaims the good news of Easter, “He is risen as he promised!”
Later that day he appeared to two of his disciples on the road to Emmaus, and then, to the disciples, and then, over the course of the next few weeks, to as many as five hundred people. Even “Doubting Thomas” didn’t doubt for long when he saw the Lord standing right in front of him.
What is it that we Christians believe about death? There are two things we know for sure. First, death is our greatest enemy. No matter how many pious platitudes we utter, no matter how many words of comfort we offer to a grieving loved one, ultimately we know that death is an insult to our human dignity, and that it wasn’t part of God’s original plan for us.
But secondly, and more importantly, we Christians know that the Lord’s resurrection is God’s supreme proof that death is not the end—it does not utter the final word. The Lord’s empty tomb testifies to all the world that the miracle of Easter is God’s supreme triumph over death, and that, ultimately, as Jesus himself promised, God the Father will raise from the dead all who believe in His Son. His victory is our victory; his life is now our life. In celebrating His resurrection from the dead, we too celebrate our own assurance of ultimate triumph over death.
My brothers and sisters, the Lord is risen—the Lord is truly risen!